We crossed the Continental Divide once again, this time via Hoosier Pass.
We made it to the Pike's Peak toll booth and we opted to drive up to the summit instead of taking the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It was $12 per person to drive and $36 per person to ride the train. Additionally, I found a $2 of coupon so our grand total was $22.
We were considering taking the bike off and riding it up to the top. After speaking with some people who had just come down on their bikes, we learned that it was extremely windy on the way up and at the summit. We decided to drive the van up.
We made it halfway to the top along the scenic drive-- to the treeline at 11,000 ft MSL-- before our transmission began to disapprove. It started smelling funny (the sweet warm smell of red Mercon hydraulic fluid,) you could tell it was working hard, and it was making all kinds of noises in protest. [Edit: The transmission was not making any unusual noises. After shutting off the van, at 11,000 ft MSL, the pressure from the engine's cooling system was released at the much lower ambient air pressure, and lower boiling point at this elevation. No coolant boiled over and none leaked. The noises Sueshan heard was the cooling system releasing its pressure]
George had researched this issue on the Ford E4OD transmission after the first instance of transmission fluid dripping at Alta Lakes, and found it is not entirely uncommon for this model tranny to drip some fluid out of its front seal when it is working hard and becomes very hot. The reduced air pressure at high elevation didn't help to keep everything in and sealed, either. This issue is not desirable, but it's not the end of the world either. We simply monitor the fluid level, add when necessary, and after cooling down overnight and at lower elevation the transmission has thus far sealed itself back up and is leaking no more.
We pulled into one of the stops along the way and dismounted the motorbike. It was a cold and windy trek to the top, complete with hairpin turns and steep drop offs, but we finally made it to the summit.
The summit of Pikes Peak is at 14,110 feet, and is very dramatic as there are no other nearby mountains nearby close to this elevation, so Pikes Peak is very prominent and seems VERY high above the surrounding plateau.
These are the Cog Train rails.
Our little motorbike steadily climbed to over 14,000 feet MSL with no issue.
The descent was a little easier since we knew what to expect. Some of the videos we shot on the way down are included below.
We made it safely back to our van halfway down the mountain.
Now all we had to do was mount the bike and continue down the second half of the mountain in our van. It was a slow trek down, but we made it with no issue and continued to the Costco in Colorado Springs to celebrate our brave ascent and descent with some Costco Pizza, Churros and frozen yogurt.
We made it to the Pike's Peak toll booth and we opted to drive up to the summit instead of taking the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It was $12 per person to drive and $36 per person to ride the train. Additionally, I found a $2 of coupon so our grand total was $22.
We were considering taking the bike off and riding it up to the top. After speaking with some people who had just come down on their bikes, we learned that it was extremely windy on the way up and at the summit. We decided to drive the van up.
We made it halfway to the top along the scenic drive-- to the treeline at 11,000 ft MSL-- before our transmission began to disapprove. It started smelling funny (the sweet warm smell of red Mercon hydraulic fluid,) you could tell it was working hard, and it was making all kinds of noises in protest. [Edit: The transmission was not making any unusual noises. After shutting off the van, at 11,000 ft MSL, the pressure from the engine's cooling system was released at the much lower ambient air pressure, and lower boiling point at this elevation. No coolant boiled over and none leaked. The noises Sueshan heard was the cooling system releasing its pressure]
George had researched this issue on the Ford E4OD transmission after the first instance of transmission fluid dripping at Alta Lakes, and found it is not entirely uncommon for this model tranny to drip some fluid out of its front seal when it is working hard and becomes very hot. The reduced air pressure at high elevation didn't help to keep everything in and sealed, either. This issue is not desirable, but it's not the end of the world either. We simply monitor the fluid level, add when necessary, and after cooling down overnight and at lower elevation the transmission has thus far sealed itself back up and is leaking no more.
We pulled into one of the stops along the way and dismounted the motorbike. It was a cold and windy trek to the top, complete with hairpin turns and steep drop offs, but we finally made it to the summit.
The summit of Pikes Peak is at 14,110 feet, and is very dramatic as there are no other nearby mountains nearby close to this elevation, so Pikes Peak is very prominent and seems VERY high above the surrounding plateau.
These are the Cog Train rails.
Our little motorbike steadily climbed to over 14,000 feet MSL with no issue.
The descent was a little easier since we knew what to expect. Some of the videos we shot on the way down are included below.
We made it safely back to our van halfway down the mountain.
Now all we had to do was mount the bike and continue down the second half of the mountain in our van. It was a slow trek down, but we made it with no issue and continued to the Costco in Colorado Springs to celebrate our brave ascent and descent with some Costco Pizza, Churros and frozen yogurt.
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